Bime Beauty sells across direct-to-consumer, third-party ecommerce, and wholesale channels. Each channel carries a different cost structure, pricing terms vary, fulfilment costs differ, and the contribution margin on the same SKU can look meaningfully different depending on where it sells and under what commercial terms.
As the channel mix expanded, pricing decisions made for one channel began affecting how the product was positioned elsewhere. Concessions built into wholesale agreements created reference points that travelled, platform pricing influenced full-price expectations on owned channels, the decisions were being made separately, the consequences were not.
Revenue was tracked by volume and topline across the portfolio. What each channel was actually contributing, net of its specific cost structure and pricing conditions, was not being measured in a way that could support forward commercial planning. Leadership was making distribution and pricing commitments without a reliable view of what those commitments were worth at the margin level.
City Shift Finance restructured how Bime Beauty evaluated commercial performance across its channel portfolio. Rather than assessing each channel by volume and topline contribution alone, performance was measured on a net contribution basis, incorporating the specific cost structure, pricing terms, fulfilment economics, and margin conditions attached to each channel relationship.
Each channel carried its own economics, including platform fees, fulfilment requirements, return rates, and the pricing concessions embedded in retailer or wholesale agreements. Bringing those costs into the same view as revenue made it possible to compare channels based on what the business was actually retaining rather than what was being invoiced.
Pricing decisions in one channel were evaluated for their effect on pricing conditions elsewhere. A discount agreed with a wholesale partner was assessed for its implications on full-price sell-through in the DTC channel, while a platform promotion was assessed for its effect on adjacent SKU contribution and the longer-term pricing position.
Commercial commitments were assessed before they were made rather than reconciled after the period closed. Each channel negotiation was treated as a decision with consequences across the broader portfolio, allowing pricing, distribution terms, and contribution to be considered together before the commitment was finalized.
This also brought greater consistency to the way commercial decisions were evaluated. Wholesale negotiations, ecommerce promotions, and direct-to-consumer pricing were no longer considered solely in terms of the revenue each could generate. Their effects on contribution across the wider channel portfolio became part of the same commercial assessment.
The resulting framework gave Bime Beauty a common basis for comparing distribution opportunities with different cost structures and pricing requirements. As channel conditions changed, the business could reconsider promotional commitments and commercial terms without treating each decision as an isolated transaction.
Measurable Transformation
“City Shift Finance helped us think more strategically about pricing, channel profitability, and revenue management across ecommerce.”
Channels that had appeared to be strong performers by volume were re-evaluated when their full cost structure was incorporated. Some held up, others required renegotiation of commercial terms or a reduction in fulfilment commitments to bring their contribution in line with what the business needed from them.
Pricing decisions across the portfolio became more deliberate. The effect of a concession in one channel on pricing conditions elsewhere was quantified before the concession was agreed, giving the commercial team a more informed position going into negotiations.
Bime Beauty’s commercial team entered a period of planned expansion with a clearer account of which channels were generating returns worth protecting and which required restructuring before additional volume was committed to them.
